Canting arms

Canting arms is a technique used in European heraldry whereby the name of the individual or community represented in a coat of arms is "translated" into a visual pun. The term probably originally came from the same root as the term 'cant' meaning slang or argot.

An example of canting arms are those of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who was born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Her arms, shown to the right contain in sinister (i.e., on the wearer's left/viewer's right) the bows and blue lions which make up the family arms of the Bowes-Lyon family.